The Life
Sadaiya Nayanar was a Shaiva Brahmin of Tirunavalur in the Thirumunaipadi country, the husband of Isaignaniyar and father of the great saint Sundarar. A steadfast devotee of Lord Shiva, destroyer of the three cities, he named his newborn son Nambi Arurar after his own father, Arurar. He and his wife raised the boy in piety before entrusting him to the childless chieftain Narasinga Muniyaraiyar, who adopted and reared Sundarar in princely comfort. Because he fathered and nurtured the hero of the Periya Puranam and lived a life of pure devotion, Sekkizhar honours Sadaiya with a single reverent verse, acknowledging that words cannot fully capture his greatness. He is counted among the sixty-three Nayanmars, worshipped collectively with them as the Arupathimoovar.